The present invention relates to a method of manufacture of an integrated circuit (IC) card. Particularly, the present invention is concerned with a technique that is effective in the manufacture of a plug-in universal IC card for a portable telephone.
Recently, a portable telephone, which utilizes a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) system, has enjoyed widespread use throughout the world. For using a portable telephone based on the GSM system, an SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, representing a kind of IC card that is issued by a portable telephone company and on which subscriber information is recorded, is inserted into the portable telephone. This portable telephone is advantageous in that the same telephone number is employable even if the portable telephone is replaced with another one.
According to IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication 2000), which is a standard for the next generation portable telephone, not only is the same telephone number employable by only changing IC cards even between portable telephones based on different systems, but also it is expected that the function of the portable telephone will be further extended.
According to the IMT-2000 standard, there is a universal IC card (UICC; Plug-in Universal Integrated Circuit Card) which is an upward compatible card having an extended function from the function of the standard SIM card. As examples of universal IC cards, there are a plug-in type and a standard IC card type, which is larger in size. By adding various functions, such as a credit function and an M commerce (mobile commerce) function, in addition to the telephone number and subscriber's personal information, to an IC chip incorporated in a universal IC card, it is possible to realize a multi-function structure in a portable telephone.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-344583 (Patent Literature 1) discloses an improved technique for a plug-in SIM card. It has been known to ship such a plug-in SIM card in a state in which it is fixed to a part of a frame card having a standard IC card size; then, when it is to be used, it is cut off from the frame card and is inserted into a portable telephone, while the frame card which has become unnecessary is discarded as waste. However, discarding the frame card is not desirable from the standpoint of saving resources and environmental conservation. For this reason, the above-referenced Patent Literature 1 proposes a technique in which a magnetic storage portion is provided in part of the plug-in SIM card and various pieces of information heretofore printed on the surface of the frame card are stored in the magnetic storage portion, thereby making the frame card unnecessary.
[Patent Literature 1]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-344583